Wire-feeding apparatus for a machine, such as a packaging machine



March 19, 1963 P. A. VAN DE BlLT WIRE-FEEDING APPARATUS FOR A MAGHIN E, SUCH AS A PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENT OR P/ETEA 4mm 0 0.: 144 DE 3/; 7

BY M

ATTORNEY March 19, 1963 P. A. VAN DE BILT 3, 7

WIRE-FEEDING APPARATUS FOR A MACHINE, sucu AS A PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR fi/iff P film 04 00: KM flfi/LT BY 7 MW ATTORNEY Marcli 19, 1963 p A VAN DE BILT 3,03 57 WIRE-FEEDING APPARATUS FOR A MACHINE, suca AS A PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR P/frfk 4mm ow 1444 Di 5/1. T

BY fwd ATTORNEY March 19, 1963 p. A. VAN DE BI APPARATU WIRE-FEED 8 FOR A MACHINE, SUCH A PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 4 a 2 J-|I- a3 INVENTOR P/ETE/e ,4. K4 0: fl/Lr ATTORNEY United States Patent The invention relates to a wire-feeding apparatus for a machine, such as a packaging machine, in which the wire supply is present on a roll or reel and the wire fed therefrom on its way to the machine passes through an apparatus which, responding to the pull exerted on the wire, controls the drive of the reel by operating a driving motor and a brake. Wire-feeding apparatuses of this kind are known. In their simplest form they consist of an arm adapted to pivot, over the end of which arm the wire fed from the reel has been passed in the form of a noose, said arm releasing the brake when a pull is exerted on the wire. Another apparatus is known in which the wire is passed through two rollers which can be driven by a motor, while the reel is arrested by an electromagnetic brake. In this case too the wire has been laid in a noose and this noose-shaped part cooperates with a micro switch which switches in the motor and releases the brake as soon as the noose is shortened and switches out both parts again'as soon as the noose resumes its previous length. In practice these known apparatuses are unsatisfactory because in all cases a pull is always exerted on the wire in order to set the reel in motion, the inertia of which reel is great or small according to the wire supply. The first winding on which a pull is exerted then tends to shoot between and underneath the other windings present on the reel, which may cause the wire to get stuck and in any case results in jolting, in consequence of which the wire may break. If moreover the reel, once it has been set in motion, is not arrested in time, one or more windings will be slackened, which further increases the tendency of the wire to get stuck when the reel is set in motion again. I

The object of the invention is to furnish a simple and efficient solution for this problem, and this object is attained according to the invention by the fact that the reel can be driven by a pneumatic cylinder, which engages the reel via a free-wheel transmission, and by the fact that the brake of the reel can be released by a pneumatic cylinder and both pneumatic cylinders are actuated by a valve or slide which is adjusted by a device responding to the pull exerted on the wire. In this way an apparatus is obtained in which the reel itself is driven because it is actuated by means of a pneumatic cylinder, in consequence of which the inertia of the reel has been overcome, upon which the reel moves on until the brake arrests the reel. When therefore a pull is exerted on the wire, through the operation of the valve or slide, compressed air will be supplied to the driving cylinder of the reel and to the cylinder which has to release the brake, and as soon as the brake has been released, the reel will be actuated. This results in areduction of the pull exerted on the wire, in consequence of which thevalve or slide is re-adjusted, with the result that the brake comes into operation again and retards the reel as much as is necessary. By this means an adjustment not only to the inertia of the reel is obtained, which indeed varies according to the wire supply on the reel, but also an adjustment to the length of wire required by the machine, which length may greatly vary in a packaging machine. In fact, if the wire supply is small and the reel accordingly begins to move too soon, this movement is at once re- 3,081,957 Patented Mar. 19, 1963 ICC adjusted by the brake, while also when there is a switchover from operation with a considerable length of wire to one with a smaller length, the brake at once provides for readjustment. The brake is released by a pneumatic cylinder and is therefore preferably actuated by a spring, and this implies that when compressed air is supplied to both cylinders, the actuating cylinder can only begin to operate when the pressure in the brake-releasing cylinder has increased sufficiently, but this means that the pressure in the actuating cylinder is also high enough to start the motion of the reel properly. When the reel is stopped altogether by the brake, along with the brake-releasing cylinder the actuating cylinder is also exhausted, in consequence of which the latter resumes its initial position and is able to actuate the reel again.

It is preferable to construct the valve or slide in such a way that it has three positions, viz. a first position in which the air supply is shut off and both cylinders are exhausted, a second position in which the air supply is opened and the exhaust is closed, and a third-intermediateposit-ion in which both the air supply and the exhaust are closed, which intermediate position makes it possible for the brake to engage the reel more gradually because owing to the shutting-oif of the air supply, the exhaust is initiated more gradually, and accordingly also the operation of the brake.

The invention will now be explained further with reference to the drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of part of the apparatus according to the invention and shows the reel, while the driving and retarding mechanism located in front of the reel has been omitted.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation in the same direction and shows the driving mechanism of the reel.

FIGURE 3 is an elevation from the opposite direction of the reel and shows the brake mechanism.

.FIIGURE 4 is a vertical section through the axis of the rec FIGURE 5 is a cross section through FIGURE 4 according to the line V--V.

The frame -1 of a machine comprises a bearing 2 for the spindle of a reel 3 on which a wire supply 4 is present. The reel, which is supported in the frame 1 by means of ball bearings (not shown), is provided with a flange 5 having lugs 6 adapted to engage openings in a disc 7 (FIGURE 3), which is supported in bearings in an arm 8 fitted to pivot about the rod 9 in the frame. Arm 8 serves as a carrying member movably mounted on frame '1. When this arm is swung aside, the lugs 6 are disengaged from the openings in the disc 7, thus making it possible for the reel to be replaced by another. FIG- URES 4 and 5 more in detail show the construction of the free-wheeling coupling and of the spindle with the driving member and the rotary member.

As shown in FIGURE 4 the reel 3 has a shaft 30, at the ends of which ball-bearings 31 and 32 are mounted. At the right hand end of the shaft 30 a flange 5 has been secured which flange has been provided with lugs 6 already shown in FIGURE 1.

A swingable arm 8 carries a spindle 33 through the in termediance of ball-bearings 34. This spindle carries the disc 7 or rotary member cooperating with the brake 15 and on the other end the driving member or sprocket wheel 10 within which the free-wheeling coupling has been provided. This free wheeling coupling 35 is more clearly shown in FIG. 5 and is of a well-known construction. An annular member 35 has been secured to the spindle 33 and this annular member has recesses 36 with .pall members 37 pressed outwardly by a leaf spring 38.

Said pall members 37 engage the toothed inner surface 39 of the sprocket -10.

It will be evident that if the sprocket is driven counterclockwise in FIG. the spindle 33 is driven and accordingly the shaft 30 of the reel through the intermediance of the disc '7, lugs 6 and flange 5. Braking of the movement of the reel is performed by braking the disc 7.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the disc 7 has the form of a brake disc while on the spindle of this disc 7, on the other side of the arm (see FIGURE 2), a sprocket wheel 10 has been mounted, over which sprocket wheel passes a chain 11, one end of which is attached to a tension spring 12 and the other end to the piston rod 13 of a pneumatic cylinder 14.

The brake is formed by a band brake 15 which is attracted by the spring 16 and can be released by the pneumatic cylinder 17. Pivotally supported in the frame 1 at 18 is the arm 19, which at its upper end carries a roller 20. This arm carries an actuating cam 21 and is kept in its initial position by a spring 22. The frame further carries the valve 23, which can be actuated by the cam 21 via a lever 24 fitted with a roller. Leading to this valve is a compressed-air supply pipe 25, and'from the valve a compressed-air pipe 26 leads to the compressedair cylinder 14, and thence a pipe 27 to the cylinder 17. The wire 28 fed from the reel has been passed over the roller 20. The apparatus operates as follows: when a given quantity of wire has to be supplied, a pull is exerted on the wire 28 by the apparatus using this wire, e.g. a packaging machine, upon which, due to the fact that the reel 3 is stationary, the arm 19 swings to the right in FIGURE 1, in consequence of which the cam 21 actuates the valve 23 via the lever 24 and thus the compressed air is fed from the pipe 25 via the pipes 26 and 27 to the cylinders 14 and 17. Since the readjusting spring 12 of the starting mechanism is considerably weaker than the spring 16 of the brake, the actuating cylinder 14 cannot operate until the pressure has become suflicient to cause the compressed-air cylinder -17 to overcome the spring 15, as a result of which the brake 15 is released. The actuating cylinder 14 then exerts a pull on the chain 11, in consequence of which via the sprocket wheel 10, the disc 7, and the lugs 6 engaging the latter, the reel 3 is set in motion. The disc 7 is supported on its spindle via a free-wheel coupling, and after the actuating stroke of the cylinder 14, which for the time being remains in its end position, the reel can therefore move on. The dimensions of the actuating cylinder are such that the reel is actuated in a way that is sufiicient to set in motion a full reel and the maximum length of wire. The movement of the reel accordingly will as a rule be more rapid than the corresponding movement of the wire 28, as a result of which the arm 19 is moved back by the spring 22 and consequently the valve 23 shuts off the supply of compressed air and subsequently opens the exhausts for the two cylinders, due to which the brake comes into operation again, said brake then retarding the reel as much as is necessary, for as soon as the velocity of the reel has decreased sufliciently, the arm 19 again assumes a position in which the supply of compressed air to the brake cylinder is opened slightly, so that the latter is released. The reel then moves on at a reduced rate until the required length of wire has been supplied, upon which the arm 19 returns completely and the valve 23 fully exhausts both cylinders, so that the brake responds at once and stops the reel, and the actuating cylinder under the influence of the spring 12 and due to the free wheeling coupling between disc 7 and the spindle carrying sprocket 10 is able to resume its initial position.

The apparatus according to the invention thus ensures that the wire cannot get stuck any more, because the inertia of the reel is overcome by the actuating cylinder, while the excessive rate of movement of the reel is at once corrected by the brake, as a result of which an adaptation is obtained to the inertia of the reel, which depends on the wire supply, as well as an adaptation to the required length of wire.

The apparatus according to the invention is extremely simple and occupies very little space. In fact, the arm 19 need only be able to move a distance which is suificient to actuate the valve 23.

What I claim is:

1. A wire feeding apparatus comprising a frame, means on the frame for rotatably supporting a reel of wire to be fed, a carrying member movably mounted on the frame, a spindle carried by the carrying member, a rotary member supported by the spindle, brake means for said rotary member carried by the carrying member, a driving member supported by said spindle, a free-wheel coupling interposed between the driving member and the rotary member, means on the carrying member for imparting driving motion to the driving member, and cooperating coupling means carried by the reel and rotary member whereby the reel is coupled to the rotary member in one position of the movable carrying member and is uncoupled in another position of the carrying member.

2. A wire feeding apparatus comprising a frame, means on the frame for rotatably supporting a reel of wire to be fed, a brake for the reel, resilient means urging the brake to braking position, pneumatically actuated means operable for urging the brake to released position, a rotary driving member coupled to the reel through a free-wheel coupling for rotating the reel, pneumatically actuated means for rotating the driving member, means for supplying pressure fluid to both pneumatically actuated means, valve means for controlling the supply of pressure fluid, and means responsive to a force pulling the wire from the reel for actuating said valve means.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 in which the means for actuating said value means includes a pivotal arm, at the end of which a roller is present over which the wire passes, said arm extending approximately at right angles to the pulling direction and being adapted to be displaced by the exertion of a pull on the wire against the pressure of a spring.

4. A wire feeding apparatus comprising a frame, means on the frame for rotatably supporting a reel of wire to be fed, a brake for the reel, resilient means urging the brake to braking position, pneumatically actuated means operable for urging the brake to released position, a rotary driving member coupled to the reel through a free-wheel coupling for rotating the reel, a flexible driving element engaging the driving member for rotating said member, resilient means urging the flexible element in one direction, pneumatically actuated means for moving the flexible element in the opposite direction against the urging of the resilient means, means for supplying pressure fluid to both pneumatically actuated means, valve means for controlling the supply of pressure fluid, and means responsive to a force pulling the wire from the reel for actuating said valve means.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for imparting motion to the driving member comprises a flexible driving element engaging the driving member for rotating said member, resilient means urging the flexible element in one direction, and pneumatically actuated means for moving the flexible element in the opposite direction against the urging of the resilient means.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the brake means comprises a brake element, resilient means urging the brake element to braking position, and pneumatically actuated means operable to displace the brake element to release position against the action of the spring.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for imparting motion to the driving member comprises a flexible driving element engaging the driving member for rotating said member, resilient means urging the flexible element in one direction, pneumatically actuated means for moving the flexible element in the 0pposite direction against the urging of the resilient means, said brake means comprising a brake element, resilient means urging the brake element to braking position, and pneumatically actuated means operable to displace the brake element to release position against the action of the spring.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7 further comprising means for supplying pressure fluid to both pneumatically actuated means, valve means for controlling the supply of pressure fluid, and means responsive to a force pulling the wire from the reel for actuating said valve means.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8 in Which the means for actuating said valve means includes a pivotal arm, at the end of which a roller is present over which the wire passes, said arm extending approximately at right angles to the pulling direction and being adapted to be displaced by the exertion of a pull on the wire against the pressure of a spring.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the driving member is a sprocket, a chain trained over the sprocket, a spring connecting one end of the chain to the carrying member and tending to rotate the sprocket in one direction, a cylinder carried by the carrying member, a piston therein having a piston rod, means connecting the other end of the chain to the piston rod and valve means for controlling the supply of air under pressure to said cylinder for actuating the piston and pulling the chain against the action of the spring to rotate the sprocket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 745,834 Hanson Dec. 1, 1903 1,182,679 Hatton May 9, 1916 2,905,406 Falck-Pedersen Sept. 22,, 1959 

1. A WIRE FEEDING APPARATUS COMPRISING A FRAME, MEANS ON THE FRAME FOR ROTATABLY SUPPORTING A REEL OF WIRE TO BE FED, A CARRYING MEMBER MOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE FRAME, A SPINDLE CARRIED BY THE CARRYING MEMBER, A ROTARY MEMBER SUPPORTED BY THE SPINDLE, BRAKE MEANS FOR SAID ROTARY MEMBER CARRIED BY THE CARRYING MEMBER, A DRIVING MEMBER SUPPORTED BY SAID SPINDLE, A FREE-WHEEL COUPLING INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE DRIVING MEMBER AND THE ROTARY MEMBER, MEANS ON THE CARRYING MEMBER FOR IMPARTING DRIVING MOTION TO THE DRIVING MEMBER, AND COOPERATING COUPLING MEANS CARRIED BY THE REEL AND ROTARY MEMBER WHEREBY THE REEL IS COUPLED TO THE ROTARY MEMBER IN ONE POSITION OF THE MOVABLE CARRYING MEMBER AND IS UNCOUPLED IN ANOTHER POSITION OF THE CARRYING MEMBER. 